mountain coca

[red26]

I had a friend once that went on a backpacking trip through the Andes and came across a patch of wild mountain coca.He was by himself and had never tried chewing the leaf before.After taking a few of the broad, almost succulent like leaves and chewing them for a little while he noticed a pretty severe burning in his mouth.Having no access to a shop of any kind,the poor guy didn't know what else to do except spit them out and deal with the burn till it faded a few hours later.He had herd of a tonic of lime juice and baking soda to add with the leaves but wasnt sure about it being a word of mouth sort of thing.Even though the effects of the leaf are fairly potent, the toss up wasnt worth it.He asked me if I knew anything about it, I could only reply with a very dissapointed "no".Has anyone ever known someone famillyar with these stories of making the chew smoother? Or even an experience with this legendary plant?

[peacefulwarrior]

All i kno is that it is almost always chewed with lime...calcium carbonate (chalk) and usually carried around in a sack (also mixed with betel nut to absorb the arecoline) ...the base makes the alkaloids absorb trans-buccaly more efficiently. Could it be that he got the lime juice mixed up with 'lime' which is calcium carbonate....and maybe the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) confused with calcium carbonate??? Maybe mixing the baking soda with lime juice might make chalk- im not sure? Adding the base might cool the burning aciditiy in his mouth. Just dont bring any of that chalk back with you unless you want to experience a lengthy interrogation with a marquis reagent test at the airport (woops).

[red26]

Thanx for the input peacful.Say this fellow had brought some back with him and was looing for a way to duplicate the process here in the states.Or was looking for other things he could do with it.What possibilities are out there? hypotheticly speaking of course.

[peacefulwarrior]

personally...I would chew the leaf with some lime for a nice stimulant buzz and to help get work done (that is if it were legal). Its what Thomas Edison supposedly did and he worked his ass off. Its an amazing plant that has been used by south american shamans and indigenous people for thousands of years without addictions and abuse because it is respected in a different way than we do. Of course if you attempt to extract the cocaine (and theres plenty of that too in south america obviously) the entire personality of the plant changes. If that fellow did bring back the plant I would recommend respecting it as a plant and althought I dont recommend consumption of course, chewing it is a great subsitute for coffee and even making a tea would work too. Or he could steep it in wine for some homemade vin mariani...khat and coca compete too much with caffeine in America and although they are part of many cultures, they're illegal. Curious....Did your friend report a numbing in his mouth? It interferes with sodium channels and has great local anesthetic potential (which is why its not schedule I).

[jacky]

coca leaf tastes like mint or spearmint. I used lime past and didnt notice any burning other than the lime. 3 ounces can contain up to 500 milligrams of cocaine, so drinking large amounts of tea can end up being a rather potent affair. companies in peru and other are sending pounds through the mail in ceremonial iteams and in standard tea bag form to countries all over the world. some priced as low as 20$ a pound. I have never taken the risks to order the stuff into the united states.peu- bolovia I think are good countries to go to for coca tourism. reading into coca use I found data that suggests toxicity associated with drinking alcohol specifically with the consumption of cocaine.

[peacefulwarrior]

"The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy." Paracelsus

[red26]

Yes there was a numbing in the mouth.He told me that when the plant was cut, thick white sap would rush out of it.The plant is definatly respected for what it is and will never seen as anything else.

[poonwhalla]

I heard through a friend that when you chew it it burns quite a bit. He told me that he kept chewing it and he could not taste right for a week. Mayby lime and baking soda work he didn't try. :cool:

[Fran]

Hi all,
the toxicity of cocaine (and so coca) with alcool come from an interaction that produce 'cocainéthylène' (I don't know the english term..) , which is very toxic for the heart cells ...
I've heard that there're 2 subspecies of Erythroxylon coca and 2 of E.novogratense , each one has a use for chewing and for extractions , but each specie has a subspecies devoted to chewing and a subspecies for extractions.....
..Hope this help....

[red26]

Last time I O.D.'d on coke they took blood tests for my heart.It came back neg. thank god.They test to see how much of your heart tissue has been destroyed somehow.Since that one I've really avoided that shit to the best of my ability.Yes ,it puts holes in your heart over time. "Someday all the healthnuts are gonna feel pretty stupid, lying in hospitals and dieing of nothing." REDD FOX

[peacefulwarrior]

True that coke will put stress on your cardiovascular system and "put holes in your heart over time" but the coca leaf itself is very safe...
fran i love that you said 'alcool'...i miss france

[jacky]

Yes, James Duke, famous botanist, compared the toxicity of the levels of cocaine in the coca leaf to the content of caffeine in coffee, he stated that the coca leaf is just as safe if not safer..................

[red26]

I dont know about you but I've never gone to the e.r. because I drank too much coffee.So does that mean coffee can do worse to your body?Just wondering cause I got ten pounds of really good imported bean from africa.I can see the comparison between the natural route w/coca compared to the coffee bean. We dont exactly go around extracting the caffine from it to smoke or snort, just drink right?

[SuperJunky]

We produce large quanities of caffiene in the labratory every year. Some of it is added to sodas, cadies, etc. They even sell caffiene pills at the pharmacy. I have friends that used to buy the pills, crush them up with some ephedrine or psuedophedrine and snort it. Head over to http://www.thinkgeek.com/ It's a crazy place to buy tons of nifty electronic devices and gadgets but they also have an entire section of thier online store devoted to caffinated items. They have caffinates soap, candy, gum, hot sauce and of course, beverages. They even carry coffee mugs, T-Shirts and blankets with the caffiene molacule on it.

[red26]

Thats hilarious!!!The molecular structure of caffine on a shirt.I love my gevalia beans.sooo smoooth.Caffine soap!?Do u absorb it or something?Wierd.Imagine yer skin all jacked up on caffine and everything else chill. That would look pretty strange, your skin trying to run around the block and the rest of your body doesnt want to.hehehehe...

[blackdog]

how's bout the difference between canadian mountain dew vs american mountain dew..............
that's right caffeine.....god bless america and mountain dew

[peacefulwarrior]

a recent study took some of the strongest schedule 1 and 2 drugs and dropped them on spiders...caffeine was also dropped on a spider. The caffeine actually fucked up the spiders web more than LSD, cocaine or any of the other chemicals...interesting shit

[Paregoric Kid]

I saw pics of spider webs made under the influence of certain drugs, but be aware they may and probably do effect spiders much differently than they do humans.

[sidman]

is he POSITIVE he was even chewing Coca? I know that I wouldn't chew anything at all unless i was absolutely sure it was what i thought!

[red26]

Absolutly.No doubt about it.It was extremly potent stuff.chew up the leaf, swallow it and your lit for hours.Totally different than blow or rock.Clean.The only problem was the acidity.

[chucky]

Caffiene and nicotine if taken as the same amount as most people do coke or any other stimulant is deadly, There are accounts that the maya and other south american tribes used it as a hallucigen and a poison for murder

[kyito]

Chewing coca leaf is a completely different thing than snorting coke and I won't even compare it to rock or mainlining - that's over the edge, unless you like to be bug-eyed paranoid and window watching all night. You can order the tea from several companies in Peru, it is illegal but it is not something that the powers that be are overly concerned with. I have seen it done on more than one occasion, even with the boxes of tea slit open by customs, inspected and still shipped to the recieving address without any problems whatsoever. Just be discreet about it and you shouldn't have a problem. Now, as far as the tea goes, if you are looking for a coke rush it ain't gonna cut it, it's about like drinking green tea, a little more of an edge to it, but not much. You would be better off to chew it, and yes they customarily use lime, or burnt quinoa(a grain staple of many south american nations, which I also happen to love to eat, not burnt though) for the base properties. You can use baking soda, it is better on your body than lime, lime is pretty harsh stuff, just a little bit can give you a chemical burn. I used lime for making tortillas I think it was just plain old calcium hydroxide, it was food grade anyways, but it burnt the crap outta my mouth, so I never used it again. Baking soda does the trick just fine, you can roll up a tea bag, don't even bother taking the coca out of the tea bag, lick it and pour a dime size spot of baking soda on it and pop it under your tongue. This can be addicting, so don't do it everyday. It is a fairly mild buzz, not an intense high by any definition. I have a close friend who chews only when he goes jogging, as it is used for elevation sickness to economize your oxygen usage. If you do it everyday for about a week or more, you will notice withdrawal symptoms when you stop, you become very restless and irritable, even chewing more will not help, it shuts down the bodies production of natural endorphins and enkephalins, much like opiate addiction. I don't know if this is much like cocaine addiction, I never noticed these symptoms with just coke use, but it will happen with the chewing of coca, maybe because there are other psychoactive substances in it as well, like ecgonine and other precursors to cocaine.

[jacky]

the coca leaves make a "pleasant" smoke, as well.............................

[kyito]

As far as extraction goes, I'm sure it can be done. I've heard of gasoline and kerosene being used as solvents, but I would not recommend it for a home chemist. Maybe some ethanol or toluene. Not every package shipped through customs gets opened, but if they were to find out you were ordering large amounts of coca tea, that may raise some eyebrows. I don't know if it would be economical to try to make a large batch and go slinging it. Maybe for personal use it could be accomplished, not that I've ever tried, I kind of like plants in their natural state. I think you can get it for about $15 for 100 bags, but the shipping is what kills you, so I'd order in bulk to cut down on shipping.